Obsessively Cataloging Video Game "Pop" Culture
Contrary to Detective Murtaugh’s well-worn catchphrase, I believe that you’re never too old to appreciate the sleek stylings of an 8-bit soda machine, like this one from Lethal Weapon for the NES.
With this entry, The Video Game Soda Machine Project has officially collected 3,000 virtual soda machines. Thanks to everyone who has supported the site over the past two and a half years!
Treat yourself to an ice-cold Splash or a refreshing Reality Cola in BLADENET, a cyberpunk assassinate-’em-up where players have to blend into the crowd to avoid their rivals. My secret is to pose as an NPC with an intense interest in soda machines.
Why did the businessman cross the road in Monmallineun Tarokbeom, a 1996 Korean adventure game for DOS? To buy a soda, of course. Unfortunately, he gets popped for jaywalking and spends the rest of the game trying to break out of prison. [Source]
Ranx: The Video Game is based on a Italian comic book series set in a cyberpunk world where knives go “TUND!” when you stab people with them. You can spot a soda machine in this subway scene, painstakingly rendered in 16 and 32 colors for DOS and the Amiga, respectively.
It’s easy to mistake it for a third gas pump, but there’s a Goca Cola machine in front of this rundown gas station from Nick Chase and the Deadly Diamond. You can make it out a little more clearly in the artist’s original rendering of the scene…
[Source]
At first glance, this soda machine from BlackShot appears to be the same model that previously appeared in Left 4 Dead, The Stanley Parable, and other Source engine games. Upon closer inspection, however, we discover the devs have edited in some name brand drink options.
Does anyone know if the whole “don’t let a Mogwai get wet” thing applies to cola? Gremlins 2: The New Batch for the Amstrad CPC is unclear on the matter.
Time is running out to quench your virtual thirst in Firewall Zero Hero, a VR shooter for the PlayStation 4. Thanks for the screenshots, Blob__Ross!
It’s a showdown at the 01001111 01001011 Corral in sci-fi/Western shooter Dead Metal! You might want to steady your nerves with a Dr. Botsworth’s Miracle Elixir before you leap into the fray.
Here’s concept art of the various vending machines that appear alongside Dr. Botsworth’s…
If you want to skate infinitely in Endless Skater, you’ll need infinite energy. And if science has taught us anything, it’s that Monster Energy Drink is the only proven way to circumvent the so-called law of conservation of energy that stands in open defiance of truly endless skating.
Thanks to twelve30 on Reddit for the screenshot!
Gombies, a Greenlight Studios game about a computer virus that rewrites its victims’ DNA and transforms them into geeky zombies, never made it out of development. Lucky for us, this render of the game’s Vend Over machines survived the cancellation. [Source]
Ice. Cold. Enjoy. Enjoy a refreshing drink while you explore a mysterious laboratory in The Assembly, a VR adventure for the PlayStation 4. Thanks to Janey and Ian for helping track this one down!
ur polygonal fists are the city’s last line of defense in Cyber Rage: Retribution. It’s time to guzzle a Syn Cola and clean up the streets!
Syn Cola’s not your drink of choice? Maybe grab drink from from this machine instead…
I’m supposed to be solving a murder in Hankou Shashin: Shibarareta Shōjotachi no Mita Mono wa? for the Sega Saturn, but the real mystery is why there’s a soda machine smack in the middle of this otherwise unassuming parlor. Also, why is everyone acting so sketchy around it?
Bandai released Jungle Park, a delightfully weird point-and-click adventure game, across several platforms in 1996. This autumnal screenshot, featuring a pair of soda machines and the intriguing promise of “Throt Raceing,” is from the Macintosh version. [Source]